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Crime & the courts

Colo. prosecutors seeking execution in theater attack

View LargerEd Andrieski | Associated PressRobert and Arlene Holmes arrive at U.S. District Court in Centennial, Colo., for a hearing in the case of their son, James, the suspect in the July 20 Aurora theater shootings.

View LargerR.J. Sangosti | Associated PressThe trial of James Holmes, 25, a former graduate student, was pushed back from August to February.

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By Dan ElliottASSOCIATED PRESS • Tuesday April 2, 2013 9:40 AM

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — For James Holmes, “justice is death,” prosecutors said yesterday in
announcing that they will seek his execution if he is convicted in the Colorado movie-theater
attack that killed 12 people. • The decision — disclosed in court just days after prosecutors
publicly rejected Holmes’ offer to plead guilty if they took the death penalty off the table —
elevated the already-sensational case to a new level and could cause it to drag on for years.

“It’s my determination and my intention that, in this case, for James Eagan Holmes, justice is
death,” District Attorney George Brauchler said, adding that he had discussed the case with 60
people who lost relatives in the July 20 shooting rampage by a gunman in a gas mask and body armor
during a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie.

There was no audible reaction from the 25-year-old former neuroscience graduate student, who sat
with his back to reporters, or from victims’ families in the courtroom. Holmes’ parents sat side by
side in the gallery, clutching hands with fingers intertwined.

The decision had been widely predicted by legal analysts.

Within minutes of its becoming official, the trial was pushed back from August to next February
and Judge William B. Sylvester removed himself from the case, saying that now that the charges
carry the death penalty, they will take years to resolve and he does not have the time to devote to
such a drawn-out matter.

Despite the potential for more delays, some of those who lost loved ones were happy with
prosecutors’ decision.

“I had a huge adrenaline rush,” said Bryan Beard, whose best friend, Alex Sullivan, was killed
in the attack. “I love the choice. I love it, I love it.” He added: “I hope I’m in the room when he
dies.”

But the prospect of a longer legal battle troubles others such as Pierce O’Farrill, who was shot
three times.

“It could be 10 or 15 years before he’s executed. I would be in my 40s and I’m planning to have
a family, and the thought of having to look back and reliving everything at that point in my life,
it would be difficult,” he said.

The prosecution and the defense still could reach a deal before the case goes to trial.

Holmes’ lawyers have indicated in court papers that they may instead pursue a defense of not
guilty by reason of insanity.

If he is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he will be sent to the state mental hospital
and then returned to prison after treatment.

Colorado has three people on Death Row but has executed just one person over the past 45 years,
in 1997.